Military personnel are surveying voters on the southern island of Mindanao. Photo Merlyn Manos/AFP
Ang violence re -interfering in an electoral process in the Philippines. This Monday, the day that country elected its new president, three security guards from a center where the election was held were attacked by guns and died after the invasion, as a result of the injuries received.
The incident took place in the municipality of Buluan, on the island of Mindanao, in the south of the country, and it was confirmed that Such incidents are still common in the Philippines before and during elections, where the interests of the different political clans exercising control over the entire territory usually collide.
The attackers, who fired shortly after the vote began, was not identified and they are not the only ones acting during the day.
According to the Rappler news portal, hours before election day began nine people were injured in the same province for attacks using explosive devices.
There is a long line of Filipinos to vote. queue while waiting to vote. Photo Rolex De La Pena/EFE
About 67 million of the 108 million Filipinos were called to vote Monday to elect the incumbents to the presidency and vice president over the next six years, as well as 12 seats in the Senate, Congress and many provincial and municipal positions.
In 2009, 58 people died in Maguindanaoon the same island in the southern Philippines, in the worst incident of political violence in that country, when an armed group associated with the Ampatuan political clan, one of the local cacique, attacked a caravan belonging to a rival family to stop them. presenting their candidacy for local elections.
Featured Candidates
Filipinos lined up in a long line on Monday to elect their new president, including the son of the ousted dictator and human rights defender as the most notorious opponent during a time of uncertainty in a deeply divided democracy in Asia. Also among the applicants is former world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao.
According to pre-election polls, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son and name of the strongman who was ousted in 1986 following the army-backed “People’s Power” uprising, has a seemingly insurmountable lead.
However, his closest rival, Vice President Leni Robredo, was shocked and angry at the prospect of a Marcos coming to power and reaping the land thanks to a network of campaign volunteers to support his candidacy.
Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Junior (C), son of former President Ferdinand Marcos, is one of the candidates. Photo Bernie Sipin De La Cruz/EFE
Among the other candidates participating in the presidential contest are Manila mayor Isko Moreno and former national police chief Senator Panfilo Lacson.
The winner of the election will sit on June 30 for a term of six years as the leader of a country in Southeast Asia hit by a two-year outbreak and lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The start of polling was delayed for several hours in part due to a malfunction of the voting machine, power outages, bad weather and other problems.
Thousands of police and military have been deployed to protect polling stations, especially in rural areas with a history of violent political conflict and where communist and Muslim rebels are active.
With information from EFE and AP.
DB
Source: Clarin